


Footlights (the Understudy Exception)

by flyingcarpet



Category: Glee, High School Musical (2006 2007 2008)
Genre: Broadway, Crossover, M/M, Remix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-01
Updated: 2011-05-01
Packaged: 2017-10-18 20:22:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/192918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingcarpet/pseuds/flyingcarpet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan had a rule: no dating his costars. But for the right guy, he might consider making an exception.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Footlights (the Understudy Exception)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cinaed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinaed/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Bright Lights, Big City](https://archiveofourown.org/works/101696) by [Cinaed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinaed/pseuds/Cinaed). 



> This contains minor spoilery references to events in the Disney Channel movie _Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure_. Many thanks to S. for beta-reading.

Ryan didn't date his costars. It was a distraction, one that he couldn't afford in his quest to prove to the world just who was the more-talented Evans twin. And besides, the gossip mill was merciless.

Still... he might've made an exception to the rule for this one. The guy was gorgeous. Pale skin and red lips, chestnut-brown hair swept up in a pompadour, tight pants hugging his ass. He looked good enough to eat.

He was also very nervous, biting his lips and fidgeting with the strap of his bag, his blue eyes wide and his face flushed.

"First time?" Ryan asked him, trying to make it sound sympathetic and not like a come-on. This was not the time. They were standing in the green room, waiting for their audition numbers to be called, as someone choked out an off-key version of "Rose's Turn" onstage.

The guy obviously caught the innuendo, though, because his eyes flicked down Ryan's body and back up in a quick, appreciative once-over as he said, "That obvious?"

Ryan grinned and held eye contact with him for several moments longer than necessary, then he held out a hand and introduced himself. "I'm Ryan."

"Kurt." Just then, the strained yowling onstage came to a merciful end and a girl with a clipboard bustled through the green room, calling for number thirty-eight. "That's me," Kurt said, and tilted his head in the direction of the stage.

Moments later, a voice drifted through the green room, high and clear as a bell, and Ryan found himself drifting through the door to stand in the wings and watch Kurt sing. Onstage, all Kurt's nervousness was gone; he stood straight and tall, singing confidently into a microphone as if he'd been born in the spotlight's glare.

**

Even being an understudy was better than the speaking role Sharpay had offered him in _A Girl's Best Friend_. Ryan didn't even mind that it wasn't a starring role; he hadn't really expected to be cast as a lead anyway, not when he was going up against someone established like Jonathan Groff.

Ryan skimmed over the rest of the cast list, picking out familiar names and speculating about the ones left off. After two New York summers spent dancing in Broadway chorus lines, many of the names were familiar.

A new name caught his eye on the list, one he'd never seen on a cast list before: _Kurt Hummel_. Ryan smiled. It had to be the same guy.

Not that anything would happen. Ryan had a rule, after all.

**

The understudy to the female lead, Leela, was a bit scary-- in East High terms, she was like a cross between Sharpay and Taylor McKessie, a ton of star power with a well-thought-out plan to back it up. She organized the happy hour for the understudies after rehearsals, and nobody considered them optional.

Over the rim of a pink cosmopolitan and a salted margarita, respectively, Kurt met his eyes for a long moment. Ryan held the gaze until Kurt flushed and looked away, and a full minute went by before Ryan could pick up the thread of conversation again. By that time it had moved on, and the others were talking about _In the Heights_ versus _West Side Story_. Ryan blinked and looked around the table for a moment, befuddled, before he gave up on socializing altogether. He threw a twenty on the table, kissed Leela on the cheek and left, feeling Kurt's eyes on his back the whole way.

"Shar," he said as soon as his sister picked up the phone. "I'm going crazy here."

"Ry, I don't have time for this," she snapped back. "I'm on in twenty minutes." But she didn't hang up, and Ryan loved her for it. "Is this about that boy?"

"Did I tell you how adorable he is? Because, seriously--"

"Adorable, got it," she said, and then interrupted herself to shout at someone in the background to bring her a bottle of water, _chilled_.

"I'm glad to see you haven't let stardom change you at all," Ryan said dryly.

Sharpay ignored him. "If he's so great, you need to go for it. Make a move."

"But what about the rule? It was your idea in the first place."

"Rules were made to be broken," she said blithely. "Didn't you learn anything in high school?"

Ryan sighed. He'd been following his sister's orders his entire life, why stop now?

**

In the bright glare of the footlights, Sharpay's solution seemed much less simple. He needed to focus on his performance, he told himself.

Then the choreographer called out from the audience, Kurt moved into position for the first big number, and Ryan realized that his focus was a lost cause. With every step and turn, every jazz square and sideways shuffle, Kurt was in the corner of Ryan's eye, graceful and muscular and completely throwing him off.

Ryan didn't think he'd ever had a worse rehearsal. He'd flubbed his cues, missed his steps and been off-beat the entire time. He'd never even made a move and Kurt had become a distraction anyway.

By the time rehearsal was over, Ryan was sweaty and irritated and more than a little turned on. One way or another, this had to stop.

As everyone left the stage, Kurt fell into step beside him. "Hey," he said with a small smile.

"Hi," Ryan said, startled. This was the perfect opportunity, if he was willing to break his rule.

"Want to practice our steps together?" Kurt asked, cocking his head to one side as if he was uncertain of the answer. He looked every bit as gorgeous as he had at the first audition, except now he was flushed from exercise and standing just a little too close.

It was an unmistakable invitation, and Ryan felt his cheeks grow hot. Only an idiot would say no to this. He could hear Sharpay's voice in his head, saying _rules were made to be broken._ And just that easily, the decision was made.

"My place or yours?" he asked, with a grin.

"Yours," Kurt said firmly.

**

Thirty minutes and one excruciating subway ride later, they stumbled through the door of Ryan's apartment.

Kicking the door shut with one foot, Ryan pressed Kurt up against the wall and pressed a series of open-mouthed kisses to his throat. Kurt tilted his head back and let out a little moan and Ryan took that as encouragement, slipping one hand inside Kurt's fabulously tight pants.

"Yeah," Kurt muttered, rocking against his hand. Ryan pulled his mouth away long enough to offer him a grin and lick his lips, thinking of all the things he could do with this delectable boy now that they'd finally crossed the line that he'd been worrying about for so long.

Kurt grabbed Ryan by the back of the neck with both hands and pulled him in, meeting him halfway for a series of mouth-biting kisses that made Ryan whine deep in his throat. His hand jerked and he lost his grip as his Kurt's thigh pressed between his own.

Kurt's tongue twisted wickedly against his own as Ryan struggled to regain his hold on Kurt's cock, giving him a little twist. It must have worked, because Kurt groaned into his mouth and trailed one hand down Ryan's chest into his boxers to return the gesture.

"Fuck," Ryan groaned, his eyelids fluttering shut as he thrust against Kurt's hand. It was all he could do to keep one hand moving against Kurt and brace the other against the wall as he felt the pressure build and his pulse race toward completion.

"Later," Kurt said, his voice husky and low, and it sounded like a promise. Heat flooded Ryan's skin at the thought, and he shuddered against Kurt as he came.

Ryan knew there was a reason he'd waited so long for this, but with Kurt's forehead pressed against his shoulder and his body warm and sated, he couldn't remember why.


End file.
